Welsh Liberal Democrats

Wales’ Economy Needs Positive Leadership - Eluned Parrott AM

January 9, 2012 1:48 PM

Welsh Liberal Democrat Shadow Business Minister Eluned Parrott AM has responded to today's Business in Britain report from Lloyds TSB Commercial by calling for the First Minister to "Focus on getting Wales right and stop talking Wales down".

The report found that business confidence in Wales has plunged to its lowest level since December 2008 and that Wales, with the weakest level of sales, has had the biggest fall in the net balances for sales in the past six months.

Eluned said "Too often the First Minister is more concerned with opposing the UK Government than being positive for the Welsh Economy.

"I would never seek to compare us to London or the South East but Wales' sales over the last six months are -12% compared to +17% for the West Midlands, +26% for Yorkshire and +2% for the North East. The buck cannot be passed to the UK Government on this one.

"It is clear that Wales is struggling against the English regions. Business Confidence is down 14% in Wales compared to plus 21% for Yorkshire.

"The focus needs to be on giving business the confidence to invest and generate jobs through positive leadership. The Welsh Government continually talking down the economy is hardly going to inspire confidence[1] ."